A client device such as a smartphone or a laptop computer can operate a browser, mapping application, or a geographic information system to provide maps and/or other geographic information and data to a user. For example, a user can search a map for one or more generalized destinations. As another example, a map can be provided in response to a web search query that implicitly calls for geographic results, such as when the search may be satisfied by a plurality of points of interest respectively having physical locations. Generally, the client device can communicate with a server over a network in order to obtain the appropriate geographic information to provide to the user.
Furthermore, once relevant points of interest have been identified, the user can interact with the geographic information system to receive further information about a particular point of interest. For example, the user may select a restaurant or other place. In response, the geographic information system can provide the user with a summary of available information concerning the restaurant, such as, for example, pricing, reviews, hours of operation, a menu, location, contact information, or other useful information.
As an example, one instance in which mapping applications or other means for obtaining geographic information are particularly useful is when a user is exploring an area with which the user is relatively unfamiliar. For example, the user can be on vacation, work travel, or simply in an unfamiliar location within their home city. As a result, the user can use a mapping application to navigate about the area of exploration and receive other useful geographic information including, for example, recommendations of places to visit.
For example, a user might be visiting New York City and search for “restaurant for brunch.” The set of results will typically contain a number of popular places which are nearby to the user's current location or a specified destination. Even though these search results can be heavily influenced by proximity, other factors may be important to the user as well. For example, in addition to searching for a place that is not too far away, the user may also want a place that has good reviews and that meets their budget expectations. As there may be many potential results in a close radius to the user, ranking or otherwise selecting from among the many results can be challenging, particularly when the user has not provided significant additional limitations with which the result pool may be narrowed.
Therefore, the use of additional signals concerning the user's preferences or expectations in order to provide improved and more personalized point of interest search results and other recommendations is desirable.